Importance of Body Image Marketing

Objective: Body image may be regarded as a very useful tool in marketing strategies. In the theoretic part of the thesis, body image topic is discussed from the women and men's perspective. Main aspects which could be used in marketing are stressed. 1) The first aim of the thesis is to support or explode a theory about current slim ideal in women and athletic body in men and furthermore struggling of men and women to fulfill this ideal by dieting or exercise. 2) The second aim is to find how exactly body image is used in printed adverts on cosmetics, medicines, food supplements and medical devices distributed in pharmacies. Methods: Questionnaire study, analysis of adverts on leaflets. Results: Aim 1: A total of 43 subjects were included in the study, 28 females, 15 males. The majority of subject had university education (35 subj.), none of the subject had only basic level of education. The most frequent residence included Prague (30 subjects). Two hypotheses were statistically confirmed in the study, i.e. Hypothesis 7: Women more than men are aware of the fact, that advertisements do influence their feeling about what they want to look like (p=0.004) and Hypothesis 13: The desire to loose weight is dependent on age (p=0.002). In women, slim body is preferred, while in men the best body would be athletic one. Aim 2: The percentage of total area which aimed at body image differs substantialy within the analysed sample (minimum 4%, maximum 36% of total area of the leaflet). Body image is most frequently used in adverts on cosmetics. In general, it seems, that the area dedicated to body image is very similar across all cathegories. Most of the adverts showed woman's body or its parts. If a man was shown, it was always in a particular social role (a father, a grandfather). Conclusion: Basic presumptions and hypotheses about body image of men and women in our society were confirmed. In line with published literature data, the women's ideal would mean a slim lady who takes care of herself. In men, it is a tall handsome browny man with friendly nature. A certain pilot study into printed adverts on various products sold in pharmacies also confirms wide use of body image in advertising on cosmetics and also over the counter sold medicines. Also in this part of the thesis a compliance with literature-published data concerning use of body image in advertising was found